The Best Ways to Diversify Your Bookshelf

Updated: Jul 26, 2024

Author

Carrie Thornbrugh

woman holding a large stack of books in her arms

Reading feeds and challenges your brain; it opens up new worlds and perspectives; it can even reduce your stress levels. So it’s no surprise to us that book clubs come to us with the intention to read more books and to read different books or authors by diversifying their bookshelves.

The truth is if you are not consciously and actively seeking books by diverse authors, the best-selling books that Americans read by default are written overwhelmingly written by white and/or male authors. By diversifying your bookshelf, you are opening up your mind to many different approaches and perspectives. In the publishing and media industry, some points of view can be pushed to the sidelines, so it is important to actively allow yourself to have the opportunity to add new writers from all walks of life to your bookshelf. In this part of our “How to Book Club Series,” we will uncover how to be culturally responsive through your literary selection.

Set a Reading Intention or Goal

You can now set and track your annual reading resolutions on the Bookclubs app or website. Just navigate to your profile, and then to your 2023 Reading Goals. Set a goal for the number of books you'll read over the course of the year, the number of book club meetings you'll attend, or the range of diverse authors and genres you want to read. Pro-Tip: Since there are 12 months in one year why not choose a different genre each month? This way your year is booked with authors that offer new perspectives and many different experiences. Bookclubs can help you track your progress against your goal – sign up for a free account and you can input a goal number of books to read over the course of the year and we’ll let you know each month if you’re on track or falling behind.

Use Apps and Tools

There are many tools and apps available that can help you track your reading progress, discover new books, and even get recommendations based on your interests. These tools can also help you keep track of your reading list and mark off books as you finish them, which can be a great source of motivation. We may be biased, but we love using the Bookclubs app and website to help us manage our TBR list, look back at our ratings and reviews of books we’ve read, and get inspired for our next read with personalized book recommendations.

Do Your Research

Try starting with a particular genre and research the names of POC, non-binary, or non-English speaking writers from that particular genre. This way you're not aimlessly wandering the shelves of your bookstore without a game plan. Another great resource is our Hear Our Voices Book Club page on Bookclubs. We partner with Algonquin Books in order to feature strong stories about underrepresented voices.

You can also check out our curated reading lists to help you get started:

people reading books together outside

Join A New Book Club

Sometimes the best way to be exposed to new books is to join a new book club reading the types of books or authors you don’t usually gravitate towards on your own. Here’s a list of public book clubs focusing on books by diverse authors:

Attend an Author Event

Check the events calendar of your local bookstore or library and choose an author event to attend together. Look to see if one of your favorite authors is coming to town, or just pick a book or author from upcoming events that look most interesting to your club. Discussing the book reaches a whole new level when you get to hear the author’s first-hand perspective, and maybe even ask them a question of your own.

Virtual book club? No problem - many authors now do virtual events. Join the Bookclubs Author Chats club to access online author chats hosted on Zoom or Instagram Live.

Engage in Discussion

Book club meetings can be a great venue for healthy debates, but also sensitive/triggering topics. We’ve found that the following respectful actions to help guide difficult but necessary conversations:

Listen deeply
Accept one another's reality
Expect and accept non-closure

Whether you’re a book club pro or a book club newbie, it's useful for any group to lay down some ground rules for interaction, but even if your club doesn’t have its own specific code of conduct these simple book club etiquette guidelines will help keep your book club a safe and transformative space for all club members.

One of the best ways to ensure a successful book club meeting is to come prepared with good discussion questions. A great list of discussion questions can help you avoid awkward silences and move your club beyond obvious questions like whether or not you liked the book. A great place to start is Bookclubs' Book Club Discussion Guide center, which has guides for hundreds of titles. We’ve also got a special set of discussion questions for banned books. If you can’t find a guide for the book your club is reading, we’ve put together a helpful list of 12 essential book club questions. These general book club questions are some of our favorites, and work well for almost any book, whether you’re reading fiction or non-fiction. For clubs that discuss online, we’ve got a guide for how to run an online book club discussion.

What are your top book club how-to questions?

Share them in the comments below and we’ll address them in a future post. We’d love to help! Make sure to subscribe to our blog to get future installments right in your inbox. We'll also keep a running list of all our installments right here for easy reference!

Check out all of our How to Book Club posts below:

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